Readers’ letters - May 19

Published:10:19Friday 19 May 2017

Cathy’s encounter highlights plight of disabled people

The recent confrontation between Cathy and Theresa May in Abingdon tells us so much.

Cathy needs to be commended for her bravery and tenacity in her heroic attempt to draw attention to the dreadful impact that Tory cuts, welfare reforms and austerity have had on the lives of disabled people in the UK. As Cathy tried to explain, these have had a profound effect on the quality of her life and those of other disabled people.

Amounting to a loss of services, withdrawal of vital mobility cars, enforced isolation, and chronic poverty, disabled people have seen the quality of their lives reduced to mere existences and reliance on food banks.

Cathy’s analysis was spot on when she said “the fat cats get the money and us lot get nothing”. She should know. She represents one of over one million disabled people who have had the services and benefits removed during the last seven years of Tory government. Mrs May’s response revealed a host of things, not least her shocking ignorance of disability issues when she wrongly reduced Cathy’s needs to mental health difficulties!

Cathy was quick to point out she has moderate learning difficulties albeit trying to now live on £100 per month without a carer to support her. People like Cathy cannot live on fresh air and the sort of platitudes such as those muttered by May.

Rather they need well funded, reliable, comprehensive local services, and incomes that allow them a quality of life and some security from arbitrary decisions made by non-accountable private organisations. Things that are currently being denied to them. Surely Mrs May could see that Cathy IS one of those “who are most in need”. Hopefully, Cathy’s pleas, and those of the thousands like her who have suffered similar indignities, will not fall on the likes of Mrs May’s seemingly deaf ears when voters go to the polls on June 8.

Dawn Judd

Address supplied

Walter Mitty and Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn is a Walter Mitty politician.

His different disguises include: one’s favourite granddad, the saviour of Great Britain, an Athenian Democrat, and a man who sheds tears over the plight of the poor.

He hates grammar schools despite having been to one, he will defend our nation despite having criticised our armed forces while supporting the IRA. He is not anti-Semitic yet supports Palestinian terrorists.

He will sanction the use of our nuclear deterrent as a last resort but in the same breath condemns its use.

In so doing, he revealing profound ignorance of the whole concept of nuclear deterrence.

Corbyn says he will reform the UN.

In over 60 years a mountain of scholarly writing, plus current and past diplomats, have tried and failed to do this because it is impossible given its composition of sovereign states and the availability of a veto in the Security Council.

He advocates the old appealing notion of talk before military action.

Don’t we all.

Unfortunately, Jeremy, terrorists and dictators don’t like to talk or, if they do, they do so with forked tongues.

Isis and the Syrian leader regard talk as a sign of weakness, and have said so.

In short, Corbyn’s knowledge and understanding of defence and international relations is even worse than his economics, and far, far more dangerous.

He is, along with his shadow cabinet, totally out of his depth.

Barry Clayton

Address supplied

Vote for peace

– not war

As the siren calls from our warmongering politicians continue to hysterically escalate, leading us on a path to war with Russia, I ask your readers to vote for peace. Not an easy task as all the political parties are badly implicated in the drive to war.

The dangerous policy of regime change has had disastrous results in the Ukraine and Syria, and potentially risks starting a global nuclear war. The initiators of the regime change policy were Labour’s Tony Blair and President George W Bush. Both gave out misinformation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.